Australians will consider further vaccination against COVID-19 with new booster recommendations to be made ahead of winter. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) is expected to make a decision on the fifth dose within weeks. Currently, only those who are severely immunocompromised and over 16, are eligible to get the fifth COVID-19 jab.
As federal authorities prepare to recommend a fifth jab, what happens if you have skipped a dose? Here’s what we know so far. “We really need to think about how recent someone’s last vaccine was, rather than how many doses they have had,” Monash University associate professor James Trauer says.A man wearing a red and black checked shirt.
Associate Professor James Trauer from Monash University’s school of public health and preventive medicine. (Supplied)
“Evidence for the fourth dose was that people were protected for a few months, but that the protection waned back to the level we would see for three doses relatively quickly. “So these repeated boosters seem to be providing a window of extra protection for a few months.